Flashlight and battery unit therefor



Sept. 2, 1941. c. P. DEIBEL FLASHLIGHT AND BATTE'RY' UNIT THEREFOR FiledApril 3, 1940 I mvENTdR CYR1L' P. DEIBEL M W L.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 2, 1941 Cyril P. Deibel, Lakewood, Ohio Application April3, 1940, Serial No. 327,851 '3 Claims. '(CL 136-110) This inventionrelates to certainnew and usetherefor and m'ore particularly to -aflashlight unit which will eliminate the necessity for a flashlight casealtogether. Conventional flashlights now generally known usuallycomprise a ful improvements in flashlights and battery units cell unitto prevent accidental movement between these members; Fig. is aperspective detail of the metal disk or cover for the dry cell unit; and6 is an enlarged sectional view case to receive one or more dry cellsand a head removably attached to the case, the head carrying a lamp,reflector, and lens and suitable electrical connections for connectingthe lamp with the dry cells. With the conventional flashlightconstruction any leakage of the cells causes corrosion, and when thetime comes to change the batteries considerable ditllculty is frequentlyexperienced in removing the corroded dry cells from the case usuallyresulting in destruction of the case altogether. One of the objects ofthis invention therefore is to obviate this difflculty due to corrosionof the dry cells within the case by eliminating the con-. ventional caseand providing a dry cell structure or battery unit which may be detachedfrom the head, discarded and replaced ,by a new dry cell unit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a battery unit forflashlights which is self-contained and which is adapted to detachablyreceive a flashlight head and which may be discarded when desired, thebattery unit providing the handle for the flashlight.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dry cell unit which isleak proof and of rugged and dependable construction and which can beeconomically manufactured in quantity production.

.Another object of the invention is to elimihate the necessity for theconventional switch. This is accomplished by bringing the cell unit intodirect contact with the lamp when desired and to provide means forpreventing accidental movement of the cell unit relative to th head.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill be hereinafter pointed out; but, fora full understanding of my Iinvention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had-to thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1. is a view in side elevation ofmyimproved dry cell unit per'se;

vFig. 2 is a central vertical section through an .assembled flashlightincorporating the features of my improvement; Fig. 3 is an end elevationof Fig. 2, looking towards the head. or lamp end of the flashlight; Fig.v4 is a perspective detail view showing the details cell.

The flashlight construction herein disclosed comprises two principalmembers hereinafter reof construction of thetop ferred to generally asthe head H and cell unit C.

As best illustrated in Fig. 2, the cell unit C here shown comprises ametal container 10 and which is preferably of a diameter and lengthsuitable to receive two dry cells designated II and 12, but it is to beclearly understood that the container l0 may be made of a size or shapesuitable for receiving any desired number .of dry cells withoutdeparting from'the spirit of my invention.

The dry cells II and I2 may be of a construetion identical with the celldisclosed in my United States Patent No. 2,079,495 with the exception ofthe metal disk or cover It which is supplied with a plurality ofradially spaced depressions I 4 the purpose of which will hereinafterappear.

The container IO'is preferably a metal can having one end closed andvsomewhat bullet shaped, asshown at I5, and its other end open andsupplied with an external thread l8 which is received by an internalthread I! formed in the skirt portion of the head H which is preferablyformed of metal. The dry cells II and 12 are inserted within thecontainer III in a carbon to zinc relation or, in other words, in serieswith one another my means of a helical spring I 8. One end of thisspring is received by a hole drilled in themetal cap I9 on the carbonelectrode 20 of the dry cell l2 in the manner shown in Fig, 2, while itsother end bears against the zinc bottom 2| of dry cell Ii. The cell unitC is preferably assembled as follows: Dry cell l2 carrying the helicalspring I8 is inserted endwise within the'container i0 and then the drycell II is inserted endwise withinthe container until its zinc bottom 2|comes into contact with the spring. A slight pressure is then exertedupon the cell II to move it toward cell l2, thus slightly Ieompressingthe spring I! and with the cells retained in this positionwithin the container ID with the spring l8 slightly compressed, the openend of the container is spun over as at lll' to of the coil springmounted between. the head and 12 of cell I2 is removed or cut away topermit thread 11 in its skirt portion for the purpose of receiving thethreaded end of cell unit as before described. The head is furtherprovided with an internalthread 2| near its outer end which receives theexternal thread 22 oi. a ring or bezel 23.

' This ring 23 serves to hold the lens 2l (which may be made of Luciteor the like) against the flange 23 of a reflector 26. An internalcentrally disposedboss 21 cast integral with the head H is provided witha bore 23 to receive the shank 29 of an electric lamp 36. The lamp 30,commonly called pro-focused, has a flange 3| which is held between thehorizontal surface of the boss 21 and the inner flanged end of thereflector 26 when the bezel 23 is screwed home within the head H.

From the description thus far given it will be apparent that the head His assembled by inserting the shank 29 of the lamp 30 within the bore 23until its flange 3| comes to rest upon the horizontal surface of thesaid boss 21. Then the opening 26* of a reflector 26 is inserted overthe lamp 33, the lens then being placed upon the reflector and flnallythe bezel or ring 23 screwed into the head which effectively retainsthese parts in rigid relation relative to one another. In order tocomplete the electrical connection to the lamp 33 the head H is screweddown upon the 'cell unit C until the cap 32 contacts the'centralelectrode 33 of lamp '30 which. completes the circuit. To facilitateturning of the head H relative to the cell unit 0, ribs or flutedprojections 34 may be formed on the head. The flutes also serve toprevent the flashlight from rolling when placed upon any level surfacesuch as a desk, table top or the like. The movement of the head axiallyrelative to the cell unit constitutes the switch which makes and breaksthe circuit to the lamp.

Means for preventing accidental rotation of the head H upon the cellunit C will now be described. A coil spring 33 shown in detail in Fig. 4has its ends bent at right angles to its convolutions to supply verticalprojections 35 and 36. This spring is received within a recess 31 formedinternally of the boss 21 and its projection 36 is passed through a hole38 in said boss and made fast thereto, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, whilethe projecting portion 36 bears against the metal disk or cover I3 andengages the radially spaced depressions l4 thereof. The construction issuch that when the head H is intentionally rotated upon the cell unit 0,the projection 36 of the spring 34 will ride in and out of thedepressions ll of the disk 13, but the tension of the spring 34 issufllcient to maintain the projection 36 within one of the depressions Hto prevent accidental rotation-oi the head upon the cell unit.

Should the head H be screwed entirely home upon the cell unit C or untilthe flange iii of container It bears against the shoulder 40, no damageto the lamp 30 will take place due-to the fact that when the cap 32contacts the electrode 33 prises a metal casting supplied with aninternal 7 that 1 have provided a unique flashlight construction thecell unit C of which may be readily attached or detached from the head Hand which -ce1l unit can be discarded when the dry cells are part of oneunit. The exterior of the container 10 may be given any desired flnishso as to match the head H or in contrast therewith as has recentlybecome the accepted practice. Furthermore, while I have shown anddescribed the head any further movement of the head upon the cell Fromthe foregoing description, it will be seen 7 H as'consisting of a metalcasting, I wish to point out that it may be desirable to mold it fromplastic, in which event an electrical conductor would be necessarywithin the head to conduct the current from the shank 26 of the lamp 33to the cell unit C.

It will now be clear that I have provided a flashlight and battery unittherefor which wili accomplish the objects of the invention ashereinbefore stated. Various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spiritof my invention and the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed isto be considered as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense as theinvention in its broader aspect is limited only in accordance with'thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I 7 claim is:

l. A dry cell battery unit for flashlights com-- prising a metal shell,a plurality of dry cells slidably fltting within said shell insuperposed relation and electrically connected with each other. one ofsaid cells being grounded to said shell and the other cell or cellsbeing insulated therefrom,

the other cell or cells being insulated therefrom,

the upper end oi said shell being open and exteriorly threaded so as todetachably receive thereover a flashlight head and having the peripheraledge thereof bent over inwardly to hold said cells in place, theuppermost cell having a centrally disposed electrode normally extendingbeyond the plane of the upper end of said metal shell and spring meansurging said upper cell outwardly, said metal shell being shaped andadapted to serve as a handle for a flashlight.

3. A dry cel1 battery unit for flashlights comprising a metal shell, aplurality of dry cells slidably fltting within said shell in superposedrelation and electrically connected with each other, one oi said cellsbeing srounded to said shell and the other cell or cells being insulatedtherefrom, the upper end of said shell being open and exteriorlythreaded about its peripheral portion so as to detachably receivethereover a flashlight head, and means integrally connected with-theupper end of said shell and extending inwardly thereof for holding saidcells in place.

CYRIL P. DEIBEL.

